Negotiations and Exchanges: Alan Schneider, Our Town, and Theatrical Détente

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Alan Schneider began his professional directing career at Arena Stage in what was then a fledgling company in Washington, D. C.1 It was with Arena, too, that his production of Thornton Wilder's Our Town (along with Zelda Fichandler's production of Jerome Lawrence and Robert E. Lee's Inherit the Wind) was performed in Moscow and Leningrad in October 1973 at the height of détente between the superpowers. This was the first time that an American theatre company was invited to be a part of the US Department of State's Cultural Exchange Program, long dominated by symphony orchestras, jazz musicians, and dance companies. The Arena "tour" consisted of barely two weeks of performances, but its …